Best of all, say users, a Segway, unlike a wheelchair, allows face-to-face interaction.

Sounds like a great, feel-good post doesn’t it? Maybe — but it turns out that the obstacles these vets face aren’t the ones you’d expect. Because Segways go much faster than a power chair and appear to represent a greater threat to pedestrians, many cities (liberal, people-loving San Francisco, among them) have banned them. So have other venues: Disney World and at least one Barnes and Noble store in Arizona, among them.

Disney’s argument seems to be that the scooters haven’t been certified as ADA assistive devices; it’s unclear how retailer objections will play out. A Segway disability-use permit — like the parking placards issued by every state — would seem to be a simple, logical solution to the question of identifying scooter drivers with a disability, but hey, I’m only thinking logically here. While the world sorts this out, riders might want to pack a doctor’s note and see if some courteous information exchange can get them to that latte.

Segways aren’s for everyone with a disability. Though they can be modified in various ways, their use depends on considerable motor skills, along with a dose of good judgment. (Speed is increased or decreased by leaning forward or back; forgetting this can have serious consequences.) Those who use them particularly cite the advantages of being able to travel upright for longer periods of time, and the ease of getting where power chairs just don’t like to go. There’s a certain cool factor, too. Unlike a power chair, they’re likely to inspire some admiring glances; this assistive device is coveted by people without disabilities, as well.

Segway image from Flickr

. . . the easy-enter system allows you to settle yourself without leaping over the side of the hammock, wary of the dangers of flipping over or falling out. Climbing into the hammock is as easy as sitting in a chair and exiting is equally convenient.

The bottom of the hammock is split, allowing a person to enter the hammock from below, while standing. You then sit fully supported in the hammock, lie back, and set your legs up along the sides. Once you’re inside, the bottom of the hammock is self-closing.

The website claims that the asymmetrical shape provides a very different experience than sleeping in a regular hammock.

Tall or large campers and campers with injuries, arthritis or bone spurs tell us about finding their first night of comfort in many years in the larger Explorer or Safari Deluxe models.

The website is a lot of fun; one section is labeled “Every Purpose” and, if you’ve got the time, you may very well discover that there is nothing that can’t be done with this hammock.

If you’re someone who’s given up on camping because tent floors and sleeping bags present too much of a challenge, this very different bed might be worth a try. Did I mention that it does triple-duty as a camp chair and lounger, as well? Pictures galore on the Hennessy Hammock website.

Hennessy is a Canadian company, but ships worldwide.

Recumbent cycles allow the rider to sit in a more natural, and comfortable, position — as opposed to leaning over, or into, the handlebars — and let legs stretch out in front instead of dangling. Recumbents are kind to spines, and a recumbent with underseat steering can be an advantage for people with arm or hand issues. Recumbent trikes offer stability for people with balance problems, or for those who worry about falling.

“Comfortable”, in the case of recumbents, does not mean stodgy. These cycles can go anywhere and do just about anything (and more!) than the familiar two-wheeler. And the trikes? These are not your grandmother’s (or even your mother’s) trikes — they’re sleek and geared to take on hills wherever you find them. I’d never ridden a ‘bent until my recent test drives; the experience was exhilarating and very much like the joy of riding a conventional cycle.

Recumbent Bike Rider is like a ‘bent lover’s candy store. I think I saw at least one version of every recumbent I’ve looked at on the Internet. Rob, the owner, is low-key and accommodating; he spontaneously mentioned that he’s discovered that his customer base is much wider than the recumbent enthusiasts he first encountered when he opened the shop. He’s now dealing with a much broader population, and is customizing models for people with disabilities. If State College is within striking distance, and you have particular cycling requirements that a recumbent might address, you might want to look Rob up.

In general, your chances of finding a bike shop willing to fit a cycle to your personal needs may be greater if the shop sells recumbents. You’re a little more likely to have discovered the kind of enthusiast who tinkers more; recumbents require a little more effort to assemble than your standard two-wheeler.

Top recumbent from RBR (Sun’s website is unusable)

Yellow recumbent from Catrike

Touring Trike from WizWheelz

Update: After a series of unpleasant emails from Sun representative Joe Z., I will not recommend Sun products to anyone, and definitely won’t be buying one myself. If you’re interested in a lower-priced recumbent, I’d urge you to wait until spring, when Sun is expected to have a great deal more competition as newer, less-expensive models from other companies join the field.

In retrospect, I’m glad for the contact. Before a major purchase, especially when product support may be an issue down the road, it’s always a good idea to get in touch with the company ahead of time. If you’re treated poorly as a prospective customer, you can bet that customer service will only be worse after you buy.

Recumbents can’t be serviced at just any shop; if you need parts or assistance and you end up dealing with a manufacturer who isn’t committed to customer service, you’re really stuck. My recent experience with Sun puts it firmly in that category.

From the Eames Office toy page (which also explains the history of the cards):

The images are of what [the] Eameses called “good stuff “, chosen to celebrate “familiar and nostalgic objects from the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms.”

The related Eames Gallery offers the House of Cards in several styles and sizes: Small ( 3 3/4 by 2 3/4 inches), Medium ((7 by 4 1/2 inches), or Giant (11 by 7 inches). Quantities and images vary by size; there’s also a set featuring images of Eames textiles.

These visually stimulating cards lend themselves to all sorts of uses. They’d be great as entertainment for anyone stuck in bed (or hospital); as a tool for practicing dexterity and hand-eye coordination; as a cooperative interactive game between people of varied ages; or as a story-telling motivator in a nursing home.

The Eames Gallery online store is bizarre and impossible to navigate, but you’ll probably have to shop there to buy the Giant or Textile versions. If you’re going for the medium or small sizes, try MOMA instead.

In this spirit, I offer up John Callahan. The PC police, the sensitive, and the just plain humorless — all of whom are absolutely entitled to their opinions (and, for that matter, welcome to them)– had probably better stop reading here. Callahan is a master of the absurd, but he’s not exactly over-imbued with politesse.

He is, however, screamingly funny, and brilliant at skewering the idiots, and idiocies, he encounters in life. There’s a website, and a large collection of books. From his website’s “General Store” (“open 24 hours a day, wheelchair accessible”), this description of his book The Best of Callahan:

This book is not for the timid, the easily offended, the politically correct, or your grandparents. It’s for people who like their humor dark . . . about issues Mom and Dad told us were impolite to talk about in public. If you find offense, you shouldn’t have been looking! We’re not the boss of you . . .

That about covers it.

Oh, yeah — Callahan’s been using a wheelchair since an auto accident when he was 21. Those who are both depraved and living with a disability will especially enjoy his point of view. Bon appetit!

In China the emphasis is more on flexibility; in Europe and the USA, the focus tends to be more on strength-building. The Berlin park, and similar ones in Nuremberg, are adapted to focus more on the Western model, using isometric exercise to strengthen muscles and increase stamina and balance. Berlin’s Preussenpark has eight devices, some of them like conventional gym exercisers and others specially adapted, including one with a nubby surface to stimulate the back.

The need appears to be real; some older people have resorted to using children’s playgrounds for exercise — providing no juveniles are nearby. “I use loving gladly the swings and jacks on children’s playgrounds, if . . . no children are present,” wrote Berlin resident Barbara Becker, in a letter to the Berlin Morning Post. (Google translation from the original German, but you get the point.)

The new parks have proven to be popular. Britain’s Mirror has taken note:

Today the playground is full of OAPs [Old Age Pensioners], many of whom have left their walking sticks nearby as they move from one stainless steel and plastic machine to the next in the warm morning sun.

Werner Herrick, 68, has been here every day since the park opened on May 2.

“This place helps me forget I’m getting on a bit, and helps keep me active,” he says. “It’s the highlight of my day. A lot of us old folks come here at the same time every day, so I’ve already made quite a few friends.”

Marlit and Hans Kimert are enjoying a relaxing back massage. Marlit, a whippersnapper at 59, says: “People think that all pensioners need is a cup of tea and a high-backed chair, but we like to be active too.

“It takes a while to get the hang of the equipment but once you know how to use it, you really feel the difference it makes.”

Interestingly, there are no benches in the Berlin park, bowing to concerns expressed in Berlin that adolescents and children might attract drug dealers who would sit around and harass the elderly exercisers. In Nuremberg, pre-park discussions involved consideration of a ban for anyone under age 60 — the result of expressed concerns about the dangers of active children and ancillary problems like the ones addressed in Berlin.

In Berlin, no one under 5 feet tall may use the ’senior’ playground unless accompanied by a (taller) adult. This sign (left), possibly from a Nuremberg park, limits users to people 65 years old and older. The concerns regarding youngsters do not appear to be misplaced; according to the Mirror article, self-absorbed schoolchildren can be an issue when there aren’t attendants around.

In addition to equipment similar to that used in the Preussenpark, the Nuremberg parks feature shade trees and convenient restrooms, along with a bocce ball field and a giant chess set meant to provide both mental and physical stimulation.

The ‘playground’ concept met with some resistance in Nuremberg; at least one group objected to the phrase “seniorenspielplatz” (“seniors playground”) claiming that name was infantile and demeaning. Nonetheless, the designation appears to have stuck — it’s the quickest way to get the most information using an Internet search, for example (if you are fluent in German, that is).

Note: The Mirror article appears to be a little confused about the opening date for the park — it cites two, neither of which appear to be exactly correct (though the phrase “last month” is open to some interpretation).

More (or at least other) information from The Times Online, UK

And from Berlin Online (in German)

Photograph of Werner Herrick from the Mirror

Photograph of park sign from Flickr

My ‘fix’ is a little crude, but it worked well for Dad. I bought two metal picks, and used pliers to bend the ‘pick’ portion on one (that would be the blade part, not the band) back and forth until it broke off. (I made sure to bend it so that the rougher edge would be on the outside of the band, not next to Dad’s finger.) This left me with a ring-like band.

Then I cut a very small strip of stretchy Lycra fabric — it’s sold in most fabric stores, as sports, dance, or athletic material. Dad wore the first pick as usual, above his enlarged knuckle. I set the second one — now just an open band of soft metal — on the same finger, but below the joint.

I lay the Lycra fabric across the band on the unaltered pick, and stretched it to reach the second band just below the knuckle, making sure that the strongest stretch of the fabric went up and down. Once I’d eyeballed the fit, I hand-stitched the Lycra to the two bands — this was easy because both bands were perforated.

This is kind of a crude fix — it’s definitely not pretty, but now my dad is able to put the pick on his finger, and then push or pull the second band down below his knuckle. The Lycra provides enough tension so that the pick bands work together to keep the pick on his finger.

Dad’s hands — and his playing — aren’t what they used to be, but having a pick that will stay on his finger has let him play quite a bit longer than he thought he could.

Dad posed willingly with his adapted pick, but I’m afraid that we exceeded the limits of my digital camera, and I wasn’t able to get a usable shot. Motivated readers will find this little project pretty easy to troubleshoot once they’ve got the picks in hand, though.

Image of guitar picks from Flickr

Berkeley, California resident Ann Sieck has a website called San Francisco Bay Area Wheelchair Accessible Trails, with a rather comprehensive listing of trails she’s either used herself with various wheelchairs, or which have been rated by other “reliable sources”.

Sieck’s reviews are intelligent and comprehensive, including information about accessible restrooms, turnstiles, transit options, available van parking and more, for parks and trails all around the Bay Area.

She provides ratings for each ranging from “AA” (“Excellent: ADA compliant or very close, with at least an enjoyable stretch of trail smoothly paved”) to “E” (“Too tough for me: if you do it and survive, please report your experience”). There’s also a “Not!” category, “suitable for Mark Wellman (the paraplegic who climbed El Capitan)”.

Also included is a page called Could you do it in a wheelchair? with a helpful discussion of potential trail conditions and obstacles. She notes that determining what’s feasible for any particular individual can be a bit tricky:

Having covered a lot of unlikely terrain in several different (but all standard-issue) chairs over more than 20 years, I should be qualified to tell you what a really inaccessible trail looks like. But what with paraplegic Mark Wellman climbing El Capitan, and the IBot, a wheelchair that can climb stairs, now available for the merest $30,000, somebody will probably prove me wrong. Still, judging whether a trail is potentially navigable by wheelchair is not rocket science.

Rocket science or not, this website’s a great resource; Sieck’s done the homework so that your trip can be enjoyable the first time out.

One caveat: The site uses Flash navigation, an unpleasant and unfortunate choice. People like me who find Flash to be supremely annoying will not be pleased by the contortions necessary to get through the site.

Photo: Ann Sieck and friend at Grant Park, from her website

I suspect he likes the routine, and is also happy that it doesn’t interfere with another favorite habit — spending the morning reading the Wall Street Journal. Now that his legs are increasingly bothersome, the trip to the placard is short enough that he can still manage it on his own — and “on his own” is a status he much prefers.

Finding ways to keep my dad mentally stimulated has been difficult. (I wrote about this previously in Therapeutic Recreation for Those Who Will Not Play.) A little while ago, I happened to mention Trivial Pursuit to the husband of a new resident when he had stopped by to say hello to my dad. He remembered the game, and said something positive about it; in the face of what looked a little like peer pressure, Dad did not immediately refuse to consider playing.

This sliver of non-rejection was enough for me. The recreation staff was more than willing to facilitate a game, and eBay, abundant provider of all things out-of-date, supplied a Genus edition, produced in 1982. The game is meant to be played on a board. Players draw cards and answer factual questions from six categories: geography; entertainment; history; art and literature; science and nature; and sports and leisure.

People who have a knack for trivia probably have an edge, but many of the answers have made their way into most people’s consciousness as a manifestation of the general culture. That this edition was published in 1982 is a bonus, since all the information needed was known prior to that date, and has only been reinforced over the decades since. For people whose long-term memory works better than the short-term, the Genus edition is just about perfect.

The guys dispensed with the board immediately, and got to work quizzing each other using only the cards. My dad won the first two matches, and his partner has won the most recent two. The battle rages . . . and the guys are having a good time razzing each other between bouts.

Dad’s got two new activities he enjoys — and enjoys anticipating. Mental stimulation, social interaction, a sense of belonging and even (who could have guessed?) a bit of fun. Whooohooo!

At 7 by 4 inches, it’s about the size of a small paperback, and fairly light at only 9 ounces. It recharges in about 4 hours, and each charge is good for about 7,500 page “turns” — according to the review, the approximate equivalent of about 7 book’s worth of page-turning.

‘Books’ can be purchased at the Sony Connect store. For you those of you who speak the lingo, the Reader uses BBeB as well as PDF, TXT and RTF formats.

Quite pricey at $350 (USD), but maybe just the tool for the right avid reader who has difficulty turning pages and holding conventional books.

Read the whole, information-packed review on Cool Tools.

Available on the Sony website, and at Best Buy.

Update: Maybe the Reader’s available at a brick-and-mortar Best Buy somewhere, but not in the Mid-Atlantic states right now; none in stores, and none in “the warehouse”. I stopped by yesterday (5/18/07) hoping to see one, and an employee checked BB’s internal inventory system, with that rather dismal result.